Pornography racket case: Raj Kundra seeks bail citing 'no evidence' against him, says he's being made 'scapeg

Mumbai, Sep 18: Businessman Raj Kundra, who is one of the accused in the pornographic content case, has filed a bail application claiming that there was not a piece of single evidence in the supplementary charge sheet showcasing his active involvement in the racket.

A few days ago, the crime branch had filed a supplementary charge sheet against Raj Kundra and three others, including Ryan Thorpe, the IT head of Kundra's Viaan industries, in connection with the alleged porn films racket case.

In his bail plea, Raj Kundra claims that he has been made a scapegoat in the case as there is not a single iota of evidence to date with the prosecution that would connect the app 'Hotshots' with an offence under the law. The probe agency has mentioned in the charge sheet that the Hotshots app was being used by the accused of uploading and streaming porn films.

It is the sole discretion of the individual artists to upload their contents on the app, the plea said, stating that he was falsely implicated in the case and his name is not in the FIR.

The court will hear the bail application on Monday.

Raj Kundra and Ryan Thorpe were arrested on 19 July after the case came to light in February 2021 following a raid on a bungalow in western Mumbai.

Kundra has been booked under sections 354(C) (Voyeurism), 292 (sale of obscene content), 293 (sale of obscene objects to persons under 20 years of age), 420 (cheating), 201(destruction of evidence) of the IPC and Sections 66E, 67, 67A (transmission of sexually explicit material) of the IT Act and sections of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986.

Hotshots App is owned by Kenrin Private Limited and Ra Kundra is accused of managing the app. Kundra's company Arms Prime Media Ltd developed it before selling it to Kendrin Private Limited, owned by Kundra's brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi.